AOML Tests a new Deep Water Data Pod System

"ABIISS"

NOAA's Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory (AOML) will begin a deep water field test of its "ABIISS" data pod system, to retrieve deep ocean data, on December 20th. The ability to retrieve data from deep ocean instruments at regular intervals via a data pod system would greatly reduce observing system costs, which currently requires ship time to retrieve data every 6-12 months. Scientists will deploy the data pod package off the Florida shelf in approximately 750 meters of water. The system will rest on the ocean floor, collect data during the 6-month field test, and release tubes at predetermined intervals that float to the ocean surface and transmit recorded data via satellite. If proven successful, the data pod system will be deployed as part of existing ocean observing networks in the Atlantic and around the globe.